Dynamic bandwidth adaptation with network scheduling

ABSTRACT

This disclosure relates to techniques for a wireless device to dynamically adapt its bandwidth use using network scheduling information in a cellular communication system. A radio resource control connection between a cellular base station and a wireless device may be established. The wireless device may receive network scheduling information from the cellular base station. The wireless device may dynamically select a receive bandwidth for receiving transmissions from the cellular base station based at least in part on the network scheduling information.

PRIORITY INFORMATION

This application claims priority to U.S. provisional patent applicationSer. No. 62/799,431, entitled “Dynamic Bandwidth Adaptation with NetworkScheduling,” filed Jan. 31, 2019, which is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety as though fully and completely set forthherein.

FIELD

The present application relates to wireless communications, and moreparticularly to systems, apparatuses, and methods for dynamicallyadapting bandwidth use using network scheduling information in acellular communication system.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

Wireless communication systems are rapidly growing in usage. In recentyears, wireless devices such as smart phones and tablet computers havebecome increasingly sophisticated. In addition to supporting telephonecalls, many mobile devices (i.e., user equipment devices or UEs) nowprovide access to the internet, email, text messaging, and navigationusing the global positioning system (GPS), and are capable of operatingsophisticated applications that utilize these functionalities.Additionally, there exist numerous different wireless communicationtechnologies and standards. Some examples of wireless communicationstandards include GSM, UMTS (associated with, for example, WCDMA orTD-SCDMA air interfaces), LTE, LTE Advanced (LTE-A), HSPA, 3GPP2CDMA2000 (e.g., 1×RTT, 1×EV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), IEEE 802.11 (WLAN orWi-Fi), BLUETOOTH™, etc.

The ever increasing number of features and functionality introduced inwireless communication devices also creates a continuous need forimprovement in both wireless communications and in wirelesscommunication devices. In particular, it is important to ensure theaccuracy of transmitted and received signals through user equipment (UE)devices, e.g., through wireless devices such as cellular phones, basestations and relay stations used in wireless cellular communications. Inaddition, increasing the functionality of a UE device can place asignificant strain on the battery life of the UE device. Thus it is veryimportant to also reduce power requirements in UE device designs whileallowing the UE device to maintain good transmit and receive abilitiesfor improved communications.

To increase coverage and better serve the increasing demand and range ofenvisioned uses of wireless communication, in addition to thecommunication standards mentioned above, there are further wirelesscommunication technologies under development, including fifth generation(5G) new radio (NR) communication. Accordingly, improvements in thefield in support of such development and design are desired.

SUMMARY

Embodiments are presented herein of apparatuses, systems, and methodsfor dynamically adapting bandwidth use using network schedulinginformation in a cellular communication system.

According to the techniques described herein, a wireless device mayselect a receiver bandwidth for each communication slot based on thelikelihood that there will be downlink traffic in that slot. Thus, ifthere is no chance (or possibly a chance that is considered sufficientlylow) that there will be downlink traffic in a slot, the wireless devicemay choose to use a narrower bandwidth (e.g., but still sufficientlywide to receive control channel resources that could potentiallyschedule a subsequent downlink communication) than the full bandwidth ofan active bandwidth part of the wireless device. For example, it mightbe determined that there is no chance that there will be downlinktraffic in a slot if same slot scheduling is not a configured schedulingoption and no previous network scheduling information scheduled adownlink communication for the slot, as one possibility. In contrast, ifthere is a chance (or possibly a chance that is considered sufficientlyhigh) that there will be downlink traffic in a slot, the wireless devicemay choose to use the full bandwidth of the active bandwidth part of thewireless device. For example, it may be determined that there is a highchance that there will be downlink traffic in a slot if a previousnetwork scheduling information scheduled a downlink communication forthe slot, as one possibility. As another possibility, it may bedetermined that there is a sufficiently high chance that there will bedownlink traffic in a slot if same slot scheduling is a configuredscheduling option, since in such a scenario the network could schedule adownlink communication in the same slot in which the downlinkcommunication would be transmitted.

Such techniques may reduce the power consumption of wireless devicesthat implement them, at least according to some embodiments, e.g., sincethe power consumption to operate with a reduced receiver bandwidth maybe less than the power consumption to operate with the full bandwidth ofthe active bandwidth part. At least some such reduced power consumptionmay be obtained without loss of network throughput or efficiency, e.g.,if a reduced receiver bandwidth is selected only for slots in whichthere is no chance of downlink traffic, at least in some instances.Alternatively, potentially greater power consumption reduction may beachieved with still relatively low loss of network throughput andefficiency, e.g., if a reduced receiver bandwidth is selected for slotsin which there is relatively low (but potentially non-zero) chance ofdownlink traffic, at least in some instances.

According to some embodiments, the network may support such dynamicbandwidth adaptation by wireless devices by implementing certain rulesgoverning when same slot scheduling may be used and when same slotscheduling will not be used, such that wireless devices can betterdetermine when there is no chance of downlink traffic. Some examples ofsuch rules could include agreeing to not use same slot scheduling when adiscontinuous reception timer value is greater than a certain threshold,agreeing to not use same slot scheduling when a wireless device is in aconnected mode discontinuous reception on duration, and/or any ofvarious other possible rules. Such techniques may increase the powerconsumption reducing potential of such dynamic bandwidth adaptation,e.g., since they may result in wireless devices being able to usereduced receiver bandwidth for a greater proportion of communicationslots.

Note that the techniques described herein may be implemented in and/orused with a number of different types of devices, including but notlimited to base stations, access points, cellular phones, portable mediaplayers, tablet computers, wearable devices, and various other computingdevices.

This Summary is intended to provide a brief overview of some of thesubject matter described in this document. Accordingly, it will beappreciated that the above-described features are merely examples andshould not be construed to narrow the scope or spirit of the subjectmatter described herein in any way. Other features, aspects, andadvantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparentfrom the following Detailed Description, Figures, and Claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary (and simplified) wireless communicationsystem, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary base station in communication with anexemplary wireless user equipment (UE) device, according to someembodiments;

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a UE, according to someembodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a base station,according to some embodiments;

FIG. 5 illustrates aspects of an exemplary possible wideband cell havingmultiple possible bandwidth parts, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 6 is a communication flow diagram illustrating an exemplarypossible method for indicating dynamically adapting bandwidth use usingnetwork scheduling information in a cellular communication system,according to some embodiments;

FIG. 7 illustrates aspects of exemplary same slot scheduling and crossslot scheduling arrangements, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 8 illustrates aspects of an exemplary scheme for dynamic bandwidthselection based on network scheduling, according to some embodiments;

FIGS. 9-10 illustrates aspects of an exemplary scheme for dynamicbandwidth selection based on network scheduling and a discontinuousreception inactivity timer, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 11 illustrates aspects of an exemplary scheme for dynamic bandwidthselection based on connected-mode discontinuous reception operation,according to some embodiments; and

FIG. 12 illustrates aspects of an exemplary scheme for dynamic bandwidthselection based on likelihood of traffic arrival, according to someembodiments.

While features described herein are susceptible to various modificationsand alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way ofexample in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should beunderstood, however, that the drawings and detailed description theretoare not intended to be limiting to the particular form disclosed, but onthe contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalentsand alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the subjectmatter as defined by the appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Acronyms

Various acronyms are used throughout the present disclosure. Definitionsof the most prominently used acronyms that may appear throughout thepresent disclosure are provided below:

-   -   UE: User Equipment    -   RF: Radio Frequency    -   BS: Base Station    -   GSM: Global System for Mobile Communication    -   UMTS: Universal Mobile Telecommunication System    -   LTE: Long Term Evolution    -   NR: New Radio    -   TX: Transmission/Transmit    -   RX: Reception/Receive    -   LAN: Local Area Network    -   WLAN: Wireless LAN    -   AP: Access Point    -   RAT: Radio Access Technology    -   IEEE: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers    -   Wi-Fi: Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) RAT based on the IEEE        802.11 standards        Terms        The following is a glossary of terms that may appear in the        present application:

Memory Medium—Any of various types of non-transitory memory devices orstorage devices. The term “memory medium” is intended to include aninstallation medium, e.g., a CD-ROM, floppy disks, or tape device; acomputer system memory or random access memory such as DRAM, DDR RAM,SRAM, EDO RAM, Rambus RAM, etc.; a non-volatile memory such as a Flash,magnetic media, e.g., a hard drive, or optical storage; registers, orother similar types of memory elements, etc. The memory medium maycomprise other types of non-transitory memory as well or combinationsthereof. In addition, the memory medium may be located in a firstcomputer system in which the programs are executed, or may be located ina second different computer system which connects to the first computersystem over a network, such as the Internet. In the latter instance, thesecond computer system may provide program instructions to the firstcomputer system for execution. The term “memory medium” may include twoor more memory mediums which may reside in different locations, e.g., indifferent computer systems that are connected over a network. The memorymedium may store program instructions (e.g., embodied as computerprograms) that may be executed by one or more processors.

Carrier Medium—a memory medium as described above, as well as a physicaltransmission medium, such as a bus, network, and/or other physicaltransmission medium that conveys signals such as electrical,electromagnetic, or digital signals.

Computer System (or Computer)—any of various types of computing orprocessing systems, including a personal computer system (PC), mainframecomputer system, workstation, network appliance, Internet appliance,personal digital assistant (PDA), television system, grid computingsystem, or other device or combinations of devices. In general, the term“computer system” may be broadly defined to encompass any device (orcombination of devices) having at least one processor that executesinstructions from a memory medium.

User Equipment (UE) (or “UE Device”)—any of various types of computersystems or devices that are mobile or portable and that perform wirelesscommunications. Examples of UE devices include mobile telephones orsmart phones (e.g., iPhone™, Android™-based phones), tablet computers(e.g., iPad™, Samsung Galaxy™), portable gaming devices (e.g., NintendoDS™, PlayStation Portable™, Gameboy Advance™, iPhone™), wearable devices(e.g., smart watch, smart glasses), laptops, PDAs, portable Internetdevices, music players, data storage devices, or other handheld devices,etc. In general, the term “UE” or “UE device” can be broadly defined toencompass any electronic, computing, and/or telecommunications device(or combination of devices) which is easily transported by a user andcapable of wireless communication.

Wireless Device—any of various types of computer systems or devices thatperform wireless communications. A wireless device can be portable (ormobile) or may be stationary or fixed at a certain location. A UE is anexample of a wireless device.

Communication Device—any of various types of computer systems or devicesthat perform communications, where the communications can be wired orwireless. A communication device can be portable (or mobile) or may bestationary or fixed at a certain location. A wireless device is anexample of a communication device. A UE is another example of acommunication device.

Base Station (BS)—The term “Base Station” has the full breadth of itsordinary meaning, and at least includes a wireless communication stationinstalled at a fixed location and used to communicate as part of awireless telephone system or radio system.

Processing Element (or Processor)—refers to various elements orcombinations of elements that are capable of performing a function in adevice, e.g. in a user equipment device or in a cellular network device.Processing elements may include, for example: processors and associatedmemory, portions or circuits of individual processor cores, entireprocessor cores, individual processors, processor arrays, circuits suchas an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), programmablehardware elements such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA), aswell any of various combinations of the above.

Wi-Fi—The term “Wi-Fi” has the full breadth of its ordinary meaning, andat least includes a wireless communication network or RAT that isserviced by wireless LAN (WLAN) access points and which providesconnectivity through these access points to the Internet. Most modernWi-Fi networks (or WLAN networks) are based on IEEE 802.11 standards andare marketed under the name “Wi-Fi”. A Wi-Fi (WLAN) network is differentfrom a cellular network.

Automatically—refers to an action or operation performed by a computersystem (e.g., software executed by the computer system) or device (e.g.,circuitry, programmable hardware elements, ASICs, etc.), without userinput directly specifying or performing the action or operation. Thusthe term “automatically” is in contrast to an operation being manuallyperformed or specified by the user, where the user provides input todirectly perform the operation. An automatic procedure may be initiatedby input provided by the user, but the subsequent actions that areperformed “automatically” are not specified by the user, i.e., are notperformed “manually”, where the user specifies each action to perform.For example, a user filling out an electronic form by selecting eachfield and providing input specifying information (e.g., by typinginformation, selecting check boxes, radio selections, etc.) is fillingout the form manually, even though the computer system must update theform in response to the user actions. The form may be automaticallyfilled out by the computer system where the computer system (e.g.,software executing on the computer system) analyzes the fields of theform and fills in the form without any user input specifying the answersto the fields. As indicated above, the user may invoke the automaticfilling of the form, but is not involved in the actual filling of theform (e.g., the user is not manually specifying answers to fields butrather they are being automatically completed). The presentspecification provides various examples of operations beingautomatically performed in response to actions the user has taken.

Configured to—Various components may be described as “configured to”perform a task or tasks. In such contexts, “configured to” is a broadrecitation generally meaning “having structure that” performs the taskor tasks during operation. As such, the component can be configured toperform the task even when the component is not currently performingthat task (e.g., a set of electrical conductors may be configured toelectrically connect a module to another module, even when the twomodules are not connected). In some contexts, “configured to” may be abroad recitation of structure generally meaning “having circuitry that”performs the task or tasks during operation. As such, the component canbe configured to perform the task even when the component is notcurrently on. In general, the circuitry that forms the structurecorresponding to “configured to” may include hardware circuits.

Various components may be described as performing a task or tasks, forconvenience in the description. Such descriptions should be interpretedas including the phrase “configured to.” Reciting a component that isconfigured to perform one or more tasks is expressly intended not toinvoke 35 U.S.C. § 112, paragraph six, interpretation for thatcomponent.

FIGS. 1 and 2—Exemplary Communication System

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary (and simplified) wireless communicationsystem in which aspects of this disclosure may be implemented, accordingto some embodiments. It is noted that the system of FIG. 1 is merely oneexample of a possible system, and embodiments may be implemented in anyof various systems, as desired.

As shown, the exemplary wireless communication system includes a basestation 102 which communicates over a transmission medium with one ormore (e.g., an arbitrary number of) user devices 106A, 106B, etc.through 106N. Each of the user devices may be referred to herein as a“user equipment” (UE) or UE device. Thus, the user devices 106 arereferred to as UEs or UE devices.

The base station 102 may be a base transceiver station (BTS) or cellsite, and may include hardware and/or software that enables wirelesscommunication with the UEs 106A through 106N. If the base station 102 isimplemented in the context of LTE, it may alternately be referred to asan ‘eNodeB’ or ‘eNB’. If the base station 102 is implemented in thecontext of 5G NR, it may alternately be referred to as a ‘gNodeB’ or‘gNB’. The base station 102 may also be equipped to communicate with anetwork 100 (e.g., a core network of a cellular service provider, atelecommunication network such as a public switched telephone network(PSTN), and/or the Internet, among various possibilities). Thus, thebase station 102 may facilitate communication among the user devicesand/or between the user devices and the network 100. The communicationarea (or coverage area) of the base station may be referred to as a“cell.” As also used herein, from the perspective of UEs, a base stationmay sometimes be considered as representing the network insofar asuplink and downlink communications of the UE are concerned. Thus, a UEcommunicating with one or more base stations in the network may also beinterpreted as the UE communicating with the network.

The base station 102 and the user devices may be configured tocommunicate over the transmission medium using any of various radioaccess technologies (RATs), also referred to as wireless communicationtechnologies, or telecommunication standards, such as GSM, UMTS (WCDMA),LTE, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), LAA/LTE-U, 5G NR, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g.,1×RTT, 1×EV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), Wi-Fi, etc.

Base station 102 and other similar base stations operating according tothe same or a different cellular communication standard may thus beprovided as one or more networks of cells, which may provide continuousor nearly continuous overlapping service to UE 106 and similar devicesover a geographic area via one or more cellular communication standards.

Note that a UE 106 may be capable of communicating using multiplewireless communication standards. For example, a UE 106 might beconfigured to communicate using either or both of a 3GPP cellularcommunication standard or a 3GPP2 cellular communication standard. Insome embodiments, the UE 106 may be configured to implement techniquesfor dynamically adapting bandwidth use using network schedulinginformation in a cellular communication system, at least according tothe various methods as described herein. The UE 106 might also oralternatively be configured to communicate using WLAN, BLUETOOTH™, oneor more global navigational satellite systems (GNSS, e.g., GPS orGLONASS), one and/or more mobile television broadcasting standards(e.g., ATSC-M/H), etc. Other combinations of wireless communicationstandards (including more than two wireless communication standards) arealso possible.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary user equipment 106 (e.g., one of thedevices 106A through 106N) in communication with the base station 102,according to some embodiments. The UE 106 may be a device with wirelessnetwork connectivity such as a mobile phone, a hand-held device, awearable device, a computer or a tablet, or virtually any type ofwireless device.

The UE 106 may include a processor (processing element) that isconfigured to execute program instructions stored in memory. The UE 106may perform any of the method embodiments described herein by executingsuch stored instructions. Alternatively, or in addition, the UE 106 mayinclude a programmable hardware element such as an FPGA(field-programmable gate array), an integrated circuit, and/or any ofvarious other possible hardware components that are configured toperform (e.g., individually or in combination) any of the methodembodiments described herein, or any portion of any of the methodembodiments described herein. The UE 106 may be configured tocommunicate using any of multiple wireless communication protocols. Forexample, the UE 106 may be configured to communicate using two or moreof CDMA2000, LTE, LTE-A, 5G NR, WLAN, or GNSS. Other combinations ofwireless communication standards are also possible.

The UE 106 may include one or more antennas for communicating using oneor more wireless communication protocols according to one or more RATstandards. In some embodiments, the UE 106 may share one or more partsof a receive chain and/or transmit chain between multiple wirelesscommunication standards. The shared radio may include a single antenna,or may include multiple antennas (e.g., for MIMO) for performingwireless communications. In general, a radio may include any combinationof a baseband processor, analog RF signal processing circuitry (e.g.,including filters, mixers, oscillators, amplifiers, etc.), or digitalprocessing circuitry (e.g., for digital modulation as well as otherdigital processing). Similarly, the radio may implement one or morereceive and transmit chains using the aforementioned hardware.

In some embodiments, the UE 106 may include separate transmit and/orreceive chains (e.g., including separate antennas and other radiocomponents) for each wireless communication protocol with which it isconfigured to communicate. As a further possibility, the UE 106 mayinclude one or more radios that are shared between multiple wirelesscommunication protocols, and one or more radios that are usedexclusively by a single wireless communication protocol. For example,the UE 106 may include a shared radio for communicating using either ofLTE or CDMA2000 1×RTT (or LTE or NR, or LTE or GSM), and separate radiosfor communicating using each of Wi-Fi and BLUETOOTH′. Otherconfigurations are also possible.

FIG. 3—Block Diagram of an Exemplary UE Device

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary UE 106, according tosome embodiments. As shown, the UE 106 may include a system on chip(SOC) 300, which may include portions for various purposes. For example,as shown, the SOC 300 may include processor(s) 302 which may executeprogram instructions for the UE 106 and display circuitry 304 which mayperform graphics processing and provide display signals to the display360. The processor(s) 302 may also be coupled to memory management unit(MMU) 340, which may be configured to receive addresses from theprocessor(s) 302 and translate those addresses to locations in memory(e.g., memory 306, read only memory (ROM) 350, NAND flash memory 310)and/or to other circuits or devices, such as the display circuitry 304,radio 330, connector I/F 320, and/or display 360. The MMU 340 may beconfigured to perform memory protection and page table translation orset up. In some embodiments, the MMU 340 may be included as a portion ofthe processor(s) 302.

As shown, the SOC 300 may be coupled to various other circuits of the UE106. For example, the UE 106 may include various types of memory (e.g.,including NAND flash 310), a connector interface 320 (e.g., for couplingto a computer system, dock, charging station, etc.), the display 360,and wireless communication circuitry 330 (e.g., for LTE, LTE-A, NR,CDMA2000, BLUETOOTH™, Wi-Fi, GPS, etc.). The UE device 106 may includeat least one antenna (e.g., 335 a), and possibly multiple antennas(e.g., illustrated by antennas 335 a and 335 b), for performing wirelesscommunication with base stations and/or other devices. Antennas 335 aand 335 b are shown by way of example, and UE device 106 may includefewer or more antennas. Overall, the one or more antennas arecollectively referred to as antenna 335. For example, the UE device 106may use antenna 335 to perform the wireless communication with the aidof radio circuitry 330. As noted above, the UE may be configured tocommunicate wirelessly using multiple wireless communication standardsin some embodiments.

As described further subsequently herein, the UE 106 (and/or basestation 102) may include hardware and software components forimplementing methods for at least UE 106 to dynamically adapt bandwidthuse using network scheduling information in a cellular communicationsystem. The processor(s) 302 of the UE device 106 may be configured toimplement part or all of the methods described herein, e.g., byexecuting program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., anon-transitory computer-readable memory medium). In other embodiments,processor(s) 302 may be configured as a programmable hardware element,such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC(Application Specific Integrated Circuit). Furthermore, processor(s) 302may be coupled to and/or may interoperate with other components as shownin FIG. 3, to implement such techniques in a cellular communicationsystem according to various embodiments disclosed herein. Processor(s)302 may also implement various other applications and/or end-userapplications running on UE 106.

In some embodiments, radio 330 may include separate controllersdedicated to controlling communications for various respective RATstandards. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, radio 330 may include aWi-Fi controller 332, a cellular controller (e.g. NR controller) 334,and BLUETOOTH™ controller 336, and in at least some embodiments, one ormore or all of these controllers may be implemented as respectiveintegrated circuits (ICs or chips, for short) in communication with eachother and with SOC 300 (and more specifically with processor(s) 302).For example, Wi-Fi controller 332 may communicate with cellularcontroller 334 over a cell-ISM link or WCI interface, and/or BLUETOOTH′controller 336 may communicate with cellular controller 334 over acell-ISM link, etc. While three separate controllers are illustratedwithin radio 330, other embodiments have fewer or more similarcontrollers for various different RATs that may be implemented in UEdevice 106.

FIG. 4—Block Diagram of an Exemplary Base Station

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary base station 102,according to some embodiments. It is noted that the base station of FIG.4 is merely one example of a possible base station. As shown, the basestation 102 may include processor(s) 404 which may execute programinstructions for the base station 102. The processor(s) 404 may also becoupled to memory management unit (MMU) 440, which may be configured toreceive addresses from the processor(s) 404 and translate thoseaddresses to locations in memory (e.g., memory 460 and read only memory(ROM) 450) or to other circuits or devices.

The base station 102 may include at least one network port 470. Thenetwork port 470 may be configured to couple to a telephone network andprovide a plurality of devices, such as UE devices 106, access to thetelephone network as described above in FIGS. 1 and 2. The network port470 (or an additional network port) may also or alternatively beconfigured to couple to a cellular network, e.g., a core network of acellular service provider. The core network may provide mobility relatedservices and/or other services to a plurality of devices, such as UEdevices 106. In some cases, the network port 470 may couple to atelephone network via the core network, and/or the core network mayprovide a telephone network (e.g., among other UE devices serviced bythe cellular service provider).

The base station 102 may include at least one antenna 434, and possiblymultiple antennas. The antenna(s) 434 may be configured to operate as awireless transceiver and may be further configured to communicate withUE devices 106 via radio 430. The antenna(s) 434 communicates with theradio 430 via communication chain 432. Communication chain 432 may be areceive chain, a transmit chain or both. The radio 430 may be designedto communicate via various wireless telecommunication standards,including, but not limited to, NR, LTE, LTE-A WCDMA, CDMA2000, etc. Theprocessor 404 of the base station 102 may be configured to implementand/or support implementation of part or all of the methods describedherein, e.g., by executing program instructions stored on a memorymedium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium).Alternatively, the processor 404 may be configured as a programmablehardware element, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or asan ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), or a combinationthereof. In the case of certain RATs, for example Wi-Fi, base station102 may be designed as an access point (AP), in which case network port470 may be implemented to provide access to a wide area network and/orlocal area network (s), e.g. it may include at least one Ethernet port,and radio 430 may be designed to communicate according to the Wi-Fistandard. The base station 102 may operate according to the variousmethods as disclosed herein for wireless devices to dynamically adaptbandwidth use using network scheduling information in a cellularcommunication system.

FIGS. 5-6—Dynamically Adapting Bandwidth Use

At least in some cellular communication systems, wideband cells may beprovided by a cellular network. A wideband cell may include multiplebandwidth parts, e.g., such that it may be possible for a wirelessdevice to be configured to utilize just a portion of the total cellbandwidth at a given time. FIG. 5 illustrates a possible representationof such a wideband cell including multiple possible bandwidth parts,according to some embodiments. In the illustrated example, the wideband(WB) cell may include four bandwidth parts (BWPs), i.e., BWP #0, BWP #1,BWP #2, and BWP #3. In other scenarios, different configurations (e.g.,including a different number of BWPs, and/or any of various otherpossible differences) may also be possible for a WB (or other) cell. Atleast in some instances, different BWPs may include different amounts ofbandwidth.

In some systems (e.g., at least some 5G NR deployments), it may be thecase that a wireless device can only work on one BWP at a time (e.g.,per component carrier) for each of uplink and downlink, though multipleBWPs may be configured for a given wireless device. For example, awireless device may be configured to monitor a downlink control channeland perform data transmission/reception on an activated BWP, but may beconfigured to not monitor the downlink control channel or perform datatransmission/reception on inactive BWPs.

For example, according to 3GPP Release 15, it may be the case that amaximum of 4 BWPs for downlink and a maximum of 4 BWPs for uplink can beconfigured as a set, with a maximum of 1 downlink BWP and 1 uplink BWPbeing active at a time, for each of the component carriers (servingcells).

As another possibility, it may be the case that a wireless device canoperate on two active uplink BWPs at a time, in at least some instances,for example in the uplink if it is configured with a supplementaryuplink (SUL) carrier, such as described in 3GPP TS 38.331 version15.3.0, p. 156. Other configurations are also possible.

Any of a variety of techniques may be used for switching betweenactive/activated BWPs. Two possible examples may include explicit andimplicit activation techniques. When explicitly activating a BWP,signaling may explicitly be provided to a wireless device indicatingthat a certain BWP is being activated for the wireless device, forexample using downlink control information. Implicitly activating a BWPmay be based at least in part on a BWP inactivity timer. In such a case,a wireless device may be configured to have a default BWP, and may startthe BWP inactivity timer when switching to a non-default BWP. Upon timerexpiry, the wireless device may fallback to the default BWP, thusimplicitly activating the default BWP. At least in some instances, itmay be the case that the BWP inactivity timer can be restarted (e.g.,extending the duration for which the non-default BWP is activated) whena successfully decoded downlink control information communicationscheduling downlink data is received by the wireless device, and/orunder one or more other conditions.

Allowing a wireless device to work on a bandwidth smaller than theentire cell bandwidth using such techniques may be beneficial, at leastin some instances, for example with respect to wireless device powerconsumption, improving support for wireless devices that have lowerbandwidth capabilities, and/or for providing interference mitigationqualities, among various possibilities.

However, it may be the case that there is no guarantee that such abandwidth part framework is actually used to provide wireless devicepower consumption reduction benefits. For example, due to the signalingrelated overhead and increased complexity to network schedulers, it maybe the case that bandwidth part changes may not be sufficiently dynamicto sufficiently enhance wireless device power savings.

Accordingly, it may be beneficial to provide a mechanism for a wirelessdevice to perform bandwidth adaptation, e.g., based on the wirelessdevice's own decision-making, to improve the power consumption profileof the wireless device without necessarily requiring bandwidth partchanges. Such a mechanism could also be supported by additionalsignaling and/or rules agreed upon between the network and the wirelessdevice.

Accordingly, FIG. 6 is a flowchart diagram illustrating a method for awireless device (e.g., a wireless user equipment (UE) device) todynamically adapt its bandwidth use using network scheduling informationin a cellular communication system.

Aspects of the method of FIG. 6 may be implemented by a wireless device,e.g., in conjunction with a cellular base station, such as a UE 106 anda BS 102 illustrated in and described with respect to various of theFigures herein, or more generally in conjunction with any of thecomputer circuitry, systems, devices, elements, or components shown inthe above Figures, among others, as desired. For example, a processor(and/or other hardware) of such a device may be configured to cause thedevice to perform any combination of the illustrated method elementsand/or other method elements.

Note that while at least some elements of the method of FIG. 6 aredescribed in a manner relating to the use of communication techniquesand/or features associated with NR and/or 3GPP specification documents,such description is not intended to be limiting to the disclosure, andaspects of the method of FIG. 6 may be used in any suitable wirelesscommunication system, as desired. In various embodiments, some of theelements of the methods shown may be performed concurrently, in adifferent order than shown, may be substituted for by other methodelements, or may be omitted. Additional method elements may also beperformed as desired. As shown, the method of FIG. 6 may operate asfollows.

In 602, the wireless device and the cellular base station may establisha wireless link. According to some embodiments, the wireless link mayinclude a cellular link according to 5G NR. For example, the wirelessdevice may establish a session with an AMF entity of the cellularnetwork by way of a gNB that provides radio access to the cellularnetwork. Note that the cellular network may also or alternativelyoperate according to another cellular communication technology (e.g.,LTE, UMTS, CDMA2000, GSM, etc.), according to various embodiments.

Establishing the wireless link may include establishing a RRC connectionwith a serving cellular base station, at least according to someembodiments. Establishing the RRC connection may include configuringvarious parameters for communication between the wireless device and thecellular base station, establishing context information for the wirelessdevice, and/or any of various other possible features, e.g., relating toestablishing an air interface for the wireless device to performcellular communication with a cellular network associated with thecellular base station. After establishing the RRC connection, thewireless device may operate in a RRC connected state.

According to some embodiments, during RRC connection establishment, thecellular base station may provide an indication of a set of possiblescheduling gap values that can be used by the cellular base station whencommunicating with the wireless device. Alternatively, such informationcould be provided in broadcast system information, or may not beprovided by the cellular base station. For example, it may be the casethat possible scheduling gap values are pre-agreed between the wirelessdevice and the cellular base station, e.g., based on proprietaryagreements and/or because such values are specified in cellularcommunication standards documents for a cellular communicationtechnology according to which the wireless device and the cellular basestation are communicating.

In 604, the wireless device may receive network scheduling informationfrom the cellular base station. For example, the wireless device maymonitor a control channel (e.g., a physical downlink control channel(PDCCH)) for information scheduling one or more communications betweenthe network and the wireless device. In some instances, the wirelessdevice may receive control information in a communication slot thatindicates that downlink traffic is scheduled for the same slot in whichthe control information is received (e.g., if same slot scheduling isconfigured, and is used by the network in that communication slot). Insome instances, the wireless device may receive control information in acommunication slot that indicates that downlink traffic is scheduled fora different slot than the slot in which the control information isreceived (e.g., if cross slot scheduling is configured, and is used bythe network in that communication slot). In some instances, the wirelessdevice may determine that there is no scheduling information for thewireless device on the control channel in a given slot. Other scenariosmay also be possible.

In 606, the wireless device may dynamically select a receive bandwidthfor receiving transmissions from the cellular base station based atleast in part on the network scheduling information. The receivebandwidth may be selected from multiple possible bandwidths. As onepossibility, the receive bandwidth may be selected from either abandwidth associated with a full active bandwidth part of the wirelessdevice (e.g., which may approximate or be slightly wider than the fullactive bandwidth part), or a bandwidth associated with control channelresources of the active bandwidth part of the wireless device (e.g.,which may approximate or be slightly wider than the portion of thebandwidth part on which control channel resources are provided). In sucha case, the bandwidth associated with the control channel resources mayinclude less bandwidth (e.g., a narrower bandwidth) than the bandwidthassociated with the full active bandwidth part.

The wireless device may select the full active bandwidth part bandwidthduring slots when the wireless device has reason to expect that trafficthat uses the full active bandwidth part may be transmitted to thewireless device by the cellular base station, and may select thebandwidth associated with the control channel resources during slotswhen the wireless device has reason to expect that no traffic usingbandwidth beyond that of the control channel resources may betransmitted to the wireless device by the cellular base station, atleast as one possibility. Thus, the wireless device may be able tooperate using a reduced receive bandwidth (e.g., compared with thebandwidth of its active bandwidth part) during at least a portion of itsoperation, which may in turn reduce the power consumption of thewireless device (e.g., in comparison to always using a receive bandwidthat least equal to the bandwidth of the active bandwidth part whenoperating in connected mode).

For example, according to some embodiments, the wireless device mayselect the bandwidth associated with the full active bandwidth part ofthe wireless device for slots that are scheduled by the networkscheduling information, and may select the bandwidth associated with thecontrol channel resources of the active bandwidth part for slots thatare not scheduled by the network scheduling information.

It should be noted, however, that a certain amount of time may berequired for a wireless device to modify its receive bandwidth, suchthat it may not be possible to switch from the bandwidth associated withthe control channel resources to the bandwidth associated with the fullactive bandwidth part of the wireless device within the span of time ofa single slot, at least according to some embodiments. Accordingly, itmay be the case that the wireless device only performs such dynamicreceive bandwidth adaptation when there is at least a minimum time gapbetween receiving network scheduling information scheduling a downlinkcommunication and the scheduled downlink communication that would besufficient to adjust its receive bandwidth.

One possible way to determine whether such a minimum time gap issupported may be based on network scheduling configuration information.For example, the wireless device may receive network schedulingconfiguration information indicating a set of values that are configuredas the possible minimum time gap (e.g., in slots, or in any otherdenomination) between when a downlink communication is scheduled andwhen the downlink communication is performed. If the indicatedconfigured minimum possible time gap is sufficient for the wirelessdevice to adjust its receive bandwidth, then the wireless device maydynamically adapt its receive bandwidth. For example, consider ascenario in which a wireless device can adjust its receive bandwidthwithin the time span of one slot. In such a scenario, as long as theminimum configured time gap is at least one slot (e.g., only cross slotscheduling is configured as a possibility), the wireless device maydetermine to dynamically adapt its receive bandwidth, while if theminimum configured time gap can be as few as zero slots (e.g., if sameslot scheduling is configured as a possibility), the wireless device maydetermine not to dynamically adapt its receive bandwidth. This may allowthe wireless device to avoid potentially missing a downlinkcommunication that was scheduled using same slot scheduling in a slotfor which the bandwidth associated with the control channel resources ofthe active bandwidth part was selected.

In some instances, the cellular base station may be configured tosupport such dynamic bandwidth adaptation by the wireless device (andpossibly other wireless devices), for example by determining to use acertain minimum time gap between when a downlink communication isscheduled and when the downlink communication is performed under certainagreed-upon circumstances, which may for example correspond to periodsof low traffic activity.

For example, at least according to some embodiments, the cellular basestation and the wireless device may maintain a discontinuous reception(DRX) inactivity timer for the RRC connection while operating inconnected mode, e.g., to help determine when to transition to connectedmode DRX (C-DRX). Whenever the DRX inactivity timer is relatively low,there may be a greater likelihood of packet activity than when the DRXinactivity timer is relatively high, at least in some instances.Accordingly, the cellular base station could determine to use at least acertain minimum time gap (e.g., at least one slot, as one possibility)between when a downlink communication is scheduled and when the downlinkcommunication is performed when the value of the DRX inactivity timer isgreater than a certain (e.g., predetermined) threshold.

According to some embodiments, the cellular base station may provide anindication to the wireless device that it will select such a minimumtime gap between providing scheduling information for a downlinkcommunication and performing the downlink communication when the valueof the DRX inactivity timer is greater than the predetermined threshold,e.g., so that the wireless device can determine whether to implementdynamic receive bandwidth adaptation based on the value of the DRXinactivity timer. Alternatively, such behavior by the cellular basestation may be known to the wireless device without an explicitindication, e.g., if such behavior is specified according to a cellularcommunication standard according to which the wireless device and thecellular base station are communicating, or if a proprietary agreementis in place (e.g., such as between an infrastructure vendor thatprovided the cellular base station and a wireless device vendor thatprovided the wireless device), among various possibilities.

As another possibility, at least according to some embodiments, thecellular base station may (e.g., after determining that the DRXinactivity timer for the RRC connection with the wireless device hasexpired and transitioning to C-DRX operation with the wireless device)determine to use at least a certain minimum time gap (e.g., at least oneslot, as one possibility) between when a downlink communication isscheduled and when the downlink communication is performed whenproviding scheduling information during a C-DRX on duration. In asimilar manner as previously described herein, the cellular base stationmay explicitly indicate its use of a minimum time gap between schedulingand performing a downlink communication during a C-DRX on duration, orsuch use may be implicitly understood between the cellular base stationand the wireless device, e.g., based on cellular communication standardspecifications, proprietary agreement, etc.

Thus, if the cellular base station is known to support use of a certainminimum time gap under certain circumstances such as when a DRXinactivity timer has a value greater than a predetermined threshold orduring a C-DRX on duration, the wireless device may also oralternatively determine to dynamically adapt its receive bandwidth basedat least in part on whether such circumstances are occurring. Forexample, according to some embodiments, if network schedulingconfiguration information indicates that a minimum time gap betweenscheduling and performing downlink communications is less than thewireless device requires to modify its receive bandwidth, the wirelessdevice may not dynamically select its receive bandwidth for receivingtransmissions when the DRX inactivity timer value is below thepredetermined threshold, but the wireless device may dynamically selectits receive bandwidth for receiving transmissions when the DRXinactivity timer value is above the predetermined threshold. As anotherexample, the wireless device may select the bandwidth associated withcontrol channel resources of the active bandwidth part for C-DRX onduration operation if the cellular base station is known to support useof a sufficient minimum time gap during C-DRX on duration.

Thus, according to some embodiments, the wireless device may determineto dynamically select its receive bandwidth for receiving transmissionsonly when a minimum time gap is configured that is sufficient to allowfor modifying the receive bandwidth in time to receive all scheduleddownlink transmissions. In other words, the wireless device may select areceive bandwidth that is narrower than the full active bandwidth partbandwidth only during slots when the likelihood of data traffic arrivalis zero, according to such embodiments.

However, according to some embodiments, it may also be possible for thewireless device to determine the likelihood of traffic arrival in eachslot, and to dynamically select its receive bandwidth for receivingtransmissions based at least in part on such a determined likelihood,such that the likelihood threshold for selecting a receive bandwidththat is narrower than the full active bandwidth part bandwidth isgreater than zero. In other words, according to such embodiments, it maybe possible for the wireless device to select a receive bandwidth thatis narrower than the full active bandwidth part bandwidth for a sloteven when there may be a chance that traffic arrives during that slot,e.g., as long as the likelihood of such arrival is determined to bebelow a certain threshold.

For example, according to some embodiments, the wireless device maydynamically select a first receive bandwidth (e.g., the bandwidthassociated with the control channel resources) for receivingtransmissions for communication slots for which the determinedlikelihood of traffic arrival is low (e.g., below a predetermined oradaptive threshold), and dynamically select a second receive bandwidth(e.g., the bandwidth associated with the full active bandwidth part) forreceiving transmissions for communication slots for which the determinedlikelihood of traffic arrival is high (e.g., above the predetermined oradaptive threshold), where the first receive bandwidth is narrower thanthe second receive bandwidth.

The likelihood of traffic arrival may be determined in any of variousways, based on any of various considerations. Such considerations mayinclude any or all of those considerations previously described herein,potentially including the configured minimum gap between receivingnetwork scheduling information and performing communication scheduled bythe network scheduling information as indicated by the cellular basestation, the current value of the DRX inactivity timer, whether networkscheduling information indicating a scheduled downlink communication hasbeen received (and for which slot the downlink communication isscheduled, and/or if such network scheduling information has beenreceived), whether the wireless device is in a C-DRX on-duration.Additionally or alternatively, the determination of the likelihood oftraffic arrival may be based on recent traffic history (e.g., how oftentraffic has been arriving), active traffic type(s), device type, batteryreserve levels, and/or any of various other considerations. Further, ifdesired, the threshold of likelihood of traffic arrival based on whichthe wireless device dynamically selects its receive bandwidth may alsoor alternatively be dynamically selected based on any or all suchconsideration, at least according to some embodiments.

Note that when using such an approach, it may be the case that thewireless device can miss initial downlink transmissions on someoccasions. For example, the wireless device may receive networkscheduling information scheduling a downlink communication from thecellular base station in a certain slot, for which the wireless devicehad already selected a receive bandwidth that is narrower than thebandwidth of the scheduled downlink communication. In such a case, thewireless device may select a wider receive bandwidth (e.g., thebandwidth associated with the full active bandwidth part) for one ormore subsequent slots based on missing the initial downlinkcommunication, e.g., at least until a retransmission of the scheduleddownlink communication is received. Thus, even if some initialtransmissions may be missed by a wireless device when using a likelihoodof traffic arrival based approach (e.g., and in which thelikelihood-of-arrival threshold for selecting a bandwidth that isnarrower than the full active bandwidth part is greater than zero) todynamically selecting its receive bandwidth, the wireless device maystill be able to receive the data during a retransmission attempt by thecellular base station. Further, in such a case, if the wireless devicecan receive the initial transmission partially (e.g., with itsrelatively narrow bandwidth), then the received partial signal could becombined with a retransmission received with a wider bandwidth toimprove decoding performance.

FIGS. 7-12 and Additional Information

FIGS. 7-12 illustrate various aspects of possible schemes that could beused for dynamically adapting bandwidth use using network schedulinginformation in a cellular communication system, according to someembodiments. Note that FIGS. 7-12 and the following information areprovided as being illustrative of further considerations and possibleimplementation details relating to the method of FIG. 6, and are notintended to be limiting to the disclosure as a whole. Numerousvariations and alternatives to the details provided herein below arepossible and should be considered within the scope of the disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates aspects of exemplary possible network schedulingapproaches, according to some embodiments. In NR, the slot in which thephysical downlink control channel (PDCCH) is transmitted can bedifferent from the slot in which the corresponding physical downlinkshared channel (PDSCH) is transmitted. The distance between such slotsmay be indicated using a scheduling parameter that may be referred to as‘K0’. K0 may denote the distance between the PDCCH and the correspondingPDSCH in slots. Thus, when K0=0, the PDCCH scheduling a downlinktransmission on the PDSCH may be transmitted in the same slot as thecorresponding PDSCH is transmitted, such as illustrated in the upperportion of FIG. 7. This may also be referred to as same slot scheduling.When K0>0, the PDCCH scheduling a downlink transmission on the PDSCH maybe transmitted in a different slot than the corresponding PDSCH istransmitted, such as illustrated in the lower portion of FIG. 7. Thismay also be referred to as cross slot scheduling.

It may be generally beneficial for wireless device power saving to useK0 values greater than 0, at least according to some embodiments. Forexample, when the minimum K0 value is greater than 0 and aperiodicCSI-RS triggering offset is not within a certain duration, a wirelessdevice may be able to switch to a micro sleep operation right away afterPDCCH reception, as the wireless device may know that no additionalPDSCH and CSI signal reception is needed within the given duration(e.g., the same slot).

As previously noted herein, NR may also support wireless device channelbandwidth adaptation through the BWP framework, according to which thewireless device channel bandwidth can be changed by the network througha BWP change. However, as further previously noted, it may be the casethat such a BWP framework may not be utilized in a sufficiently dynamicmanner by the network to provide as much wireless device power savingsas could be possible. Accordingly, mechanisms for dynamic bandwidthadaptation by wireless devices, e.g., that can be implemented at awireless device using decision making by the wireless device, mayprovide additional power consumption reduction benefits to wirelessdevices. Such mechanisms may also potentially benefit further fromnetwork support for certain additional signaling and/or rules to improvethe wireless devices' capability to effectively implement themechanisms.

One possible approach to such dynamic bandwidth adaptation may be basedat least in part on possible K0 values that are configured for awireless device. For example, if all possible K0 values that couldpotentially be signaled to a wireless device by downlink controlinformation are greater than 0, this may indicate that there is aguaranteed time gap between the PDCCH and the corresponding PDSCH, whichmay be long enough for the wireless device to adjust its RF bandwidthfor PDSCH reception.

Thus, as one possible approach, when a wireless device knows thatpotential K0 values that can be indicated are all larger than 0, in agiven slot n, if the wireless device determines that there is no PDSCHto receive, then the wireless device could reduce its channel bandwidthto the point where it can monitor the control resource set (CORESET)only, to reduce power consumption. If, however, in the given slot n, ifthe wireless device is supposed to receive data on the PDSCH based onpreviously received downlink control information and the wirelessdevice's current channel bandwidth is smaller than the size of theconfigured BWP, the wireless device could open up its RF channelbandwidth to the size of the configured BWP to receive the PD SCH. Thus,the wireless device may open up its RF channel bandwidth only when thereis a scheduled PDSCH. FIG. 8 is a time-frequency diagram illustratinghow such dynamic bandwidth adaptation might proceed using such anapproach in an exemplary scenario, according to some embodiments.

The value of the drx-inactivityTimer in DRX mode may roughly capture theintensity of traffic arrival, e.g., since this inactivity timer may bereset every time a new packet arrives, at least according to someembodiments. When the traffic arrival rate is low, it may be beneficialto use a minimum K0>0 requirement, e.g., to give wireless devices theopportunity to operate in narrower bandwidth for power savings.Accordingly, as a further possibility, when DRX is configured (e.g.,when a DRX inactivity timer is running while operating in connectedmode), the network may conform to a minimum K0>0 requirement when thecurrent drx-inactivityTimer value is greater than a certain threshold(e.g., since this time period may correspond to a window of low trafficarrival rate), but may select any K0 value configured in the networkprovided K0 table (e.g., a time domain resource allocation table) whenthe current drx-inactivityTimer value is less than the threshold (e.g.,since this time period may correspond to a window of high trafficarrival rate). Such limiting of K0 to non-zero values during windows oflow traffic arrival may increase the opportunities for wireless devicesto implement dynamic bandwidth adaptation. FIGS. 9-10 are time-frequencydiagrams illustrating how such dynamic bandwidth adaptation mightproceed using such an approach in two exemplary scenarios, according tosome embodiments.

Additionally, when a wireless device is in C-DRX on duration (e.g., withthe drx-inactivityTimer not running), there may be a high likelihoodthat the wireless device does not receive data actively. Thus, it maymake sense to allow wireless devices to operate with narrow bandwidthwhile in C-DRX on duration. Accordingly, as a still further possibility,a wireless device could be configured with a K_min value, which may begreater than 0. If the drx-inactivityTimer is not running, the networkmay agree that the potential K0 that can be indicated is limited toK0>K_min. In such a case, the wireless device may be able to implementdynamic bandwidth adaptation (e.g., such that a narrow bandwidth can beselected) during C-DRX on duration. FIG. 11 is a time-frequency diagramillustrating how such dynamic bandwidth adaptation might proceed usingsuch an approach in an exemplary scenario, according to someembodiments.

While the preceding example approaches and scenarios of FIGS. 8-11 mayutilize an approach to dynamic bandwidth adaptation in which an RFbandwidth that is narrower than the configured BWP is selected for awireless device only if there is no chance of downlink traffic in agiven slot, it may also be possible to use an approach to dynamicbandwidth adaptation in which an RF bandwidth that is narrower than theconfigured BWP can be selected for a wireless device even when there isa non-zero chance of downlink traffic in a given slot. For example, whenthe wireless device determines that there is a low chance of trafficarrival in a given slot, then the wireless device may choose to reduceits RF bandwidth, e.g., to monitor the CORESET only. This couldpotentially cause the wireless device to miss an upcoming new initialtransmission which is scheduled outside of the (e.g., reduced) RFbandwidth of the wireless device. However, it may be the case that sucha risk of missing a PDSCH transmission may be considered worthwhile,e.g., to reduce power consumption, particularly since the missedtransport block (TB) may be retransmitted. Note that since the bandwidthreduction decision may be made by the wireless device itself, such amore flexible approach may allow the wireless device to manage itspreferred trade-off between power consumption, latency, throughput,and/or other considerations in a more finely-grained manner.

According to such an approach, if there is no PDSCH to receive, then thewireless device may be able to reduce its bandwidth to an extent that iswide enough to monitor its CORESET only. This reduced bandwidth may thusbe smaller than the active BWP size. In this mode, the wireless devicemay receive PDCCH symbols only via the reduced bandwidth. The wirelessdevice may not receive/buffer other symbols for potential PDSCHreception. Components related to PDSCH decoding could be in a low powerstate for this mode. Once the wireless device detects a PDCCH carrying adownlink grant, then the wireless device could miss (part of) thecorresponding PDSCH, e.g., in case the PDSCH is transmitted outside ofthe wireless device's current reduced bandwidth. If the wireless devicedoes detect a PDCCH carrying a grant, the wireless device may open itsRF as soon as possible to cover the bandwidth of the active BWP and moveto normal bandwidth mode. If the wireless device can receive thescheduled PDSCH without moving to normal bandwidth mode, the wirelessdevice may remain in CORESET only mode. In the normal bandwidth mode,the wireless device's RF bandwidth may be wide enough to cover the fullactive BWP. Thus, the wireless device may be able to receive anyfollowing retransmissions for the same transport block. If the dataarrival rate is determined (e.g., at a later time) to be sufficientlylow, the wireless device may move back to the CORESET only mode. Notethat it may be possible to support such an approach on the wirelessdevice side without requiring any cellular standard specificationchanges or specific network support, though it may be possible that suchsupport could improve the efficiency of such an approach, at leastaccording to some embodiments. FIG. 12 is a time-frequency diagramillustrating how such dynamic bandwidth adaptation might proceed usingsuch an approach in an exemplary scenario, according to someembodiments.

In the following further exemplary embodiments are provided.

One set of embodiments may include a wireless device, comprising: anantenna; a radio coupled to the antenna; and a processing elementcoupled to the radio; wherein the wireless device is configured to:establish a radio resource control (RRC) connection with a cellular basestation according to a first radio access technology (RAT); receivenetwork scheduling information from the cellular base station; anddynamically select a receive bandwidth for receiving transmissions fromthe cellular base station based at least in part on the networkscheduling information.

According to some embodiments, to dynamically select the receivebandwidth, the wireless device is further configured to select thereceive bandwidth from one of: a bandwidth associated with a full activebandwidth part of the wireless device; or a bandwidth associated withcontrol channel resources of the active bandwidth part of the wirelessdevice, wherein the bandwidth associated with control channel resourcesof the active bandwidth part comprises less bandwidth than the bandwidthassociated with the full active bandwidth part.

According to some embodiments, the wireless device is further configuredto: select the bandwidth associated with the full active bandwidth partof the wireless device for slots that are scheduled by the networkscheduling information; and select the bandwidth associated with controlchannel resources of the active bandwidth part for slots that are notscheduled by the network scheduling information.

According to some embodiments, the wireless device is further configuredto: select the bandwidth associated with control channel resources ofthe active bandwidth part for connected mode discontinuous reception onduration operation.

According to some embodiments, the network scheduling informationcomprises network scheduling configuration information indicatingwhether same slot scheduling is a configured network scheduling option,wherein the wireless device is further configured to: determine todynamically select a receive bandwidth for receiving transmissions basedat least in part on the network scheduling configuration informationindicating that same slot scheduling is not a configured networkscheduling option, wherein a receive bandwidth for receivingtransmissions is not dynamically selected when the network schedulingconfiguration information indicates that same slot scheduling is aconfigured network scheduling option.

According to some embodiments, the wireless device is further configuredto: determine to dynamically select a receive bandwidth for receivingtransmissions based at least in part on a discontinuous reception (DRX)inactivity timer value being above a predetermined threshold, wherein areceive bandwidth for receiving transmissions is not dynamicallyselected when the DRX inactivity timer value is below the predeterminedthreshold.

According to some embodiments, the wireless device is further configuredto: determine a likelihood of traffic arrival at each communication slotwith the cellular base station; dynamically select a first receivebandwidth for receiving transmissions for communication slots for whichthe determined likelihood of traffic arrival is low; and dynamicallyselect a second receive bandwidth for receiving transmissions forcommunication slots for which the determined likelihood of trafficarrival is high, wherein the first receive bandwidth is narrower thanthe second receive bandwidth.

Another set of embodiments may include an apparatus, comprising aprocessing element configured to cause a wireless device to: establish aradio resource control (RRC) connection with a cellular base stationaccording to a first radio access technology (RAT); determine alikelihood of traffic arrival at each communication slot with thecellular base station; and dynamically select a receive bandwidth foreach communication slot with the cellular base station based at least inpart on the determined likelihood of traffic arrival.

According to some embodiments, to dynamically select the receivebandwidth, the processing element is further configured to cause thewireless device select the receive bandwidth from one of: a fullbandwidth of an active bandwidth part of the wireless device; or abandwidth associated with control channel resources of the activebandwidth part of the wireless device, wherein the bandwidth associatedwith control channel resources of the active bandwidth part comprisesless bandwidth than the full bandwidth of the active bandwidth part.

According to some embodiments, to dynamically select the receivebandwidth, the processing element is further configured to cause thewireless device to: select a narrower receive bandwidth forcommunication slots with determined likelihood of traffic arrival belowa predetermined threshold; and select a wider receive bandwidth forcommunication slots with determined likelihood of traffic arrival abovea predetermined threshold.

According to some embodiments, the likelihood of traffic arrival isdetermined based at least in part on a configured minimum gap betweenreceiving network scheduling information and performing communicationscheduled by the network scheduling information.

According to some embodiments, the likelihood of traffic arrival isdetermined based at least in part on a current value of a discontinousreception (DRX) inactivity timer.

According to some embodiments, the likelihood of traffic arrival isdetermined based at least in part on network scheduling informationindicating whether traffic is scheduled at each communication slot withthe cellular base station.

According to some embodiments, the likelihood of traffic arrival isdetermined based at least in part on whether the wireless device is in aconnected-mode discontinous reception on duration.

According to some embodiments, the processing element is furtherconfigured to: receive network scheduling information scheduling adownlink communication from the cellular base station in a first slot,wherein the scheduled downlink communication has a wider bandwidth thana receive bandwidth that was selected for the first slot; select areceive bandwidth that is at least as wide as the first bandwidth forone or more slots subsequent to the first slot based at least in part onthe receiving the network scheduling information scheduling the downlinkcommunication in the first slot; and receive a retransmission of thedownlink communication during one of the one or more slots subsequent tothe first slot.

A further set of embodiments may include a cellular base station,comprising: an antenna; a radio coupled to the antenna; and a processingelement coupled to the radio; wherein the cellular base station isconfigured to: establish a radio resource control (RRC) connection witha wireless device according to a first radio access technology (RAT);maintain a discontinuous reception (DRX) inactivity timer for the RRCconnection with the wireless device; and provide scheduling informationfor a downlink communication to the wireless device, wherein a time gapbetween providing the scheduling information and performing the downlinkcommunication is selected based at least in part on a value of the DRXinactivity timer.

According to some embodiments, the cellular base station is furtherconfigured to: select a minimum time gap of at least one slot betweenproviding scheduling information for a downlink communication andperforming the downlink communication when the value of the DRXinactivity timer is greater than a predetermined threshold.

According to some embodiments, the cellular base station is furtherconfigured to: provide an indication to the wireless device that thecellular base station will select a minimum time gap of at least oneslot between providing scheduling information for a downlinkcommunication and performing the downlink communication when the valueof the DRX inactivity timer is greater than the predetermined threshold.

According to some embodiments, the cellular base station is furtherconfigured to: determine that the DRX inactivity timer for the RRCconnection with the wireless device has expired; transition to aconnected-mode DRX (C-DRX) operation with the wireless device; andprovide scheduling information for a downlink communication to thewireless device during a C-DRX on duration, wherein a time gap betweenproviding the scheduling information and performing the downlinkcommunication is selected based at least in part on schedulinginformation being provided during a C-DRX on duration.

According to some embodiments, the cellular base station is furtherconfigured to: select a minimum time gap of at least one slot betweenproviding scheduling information for a downlink communication andperforming the downlink communication when the scheduling information isbeing provided during a C-DRX on duration.

A still further exemplary embodiment may include a method, comprising:performing, by a wireless device, any or all parts of the precedingexamples.

Another exemplary embodiment may include a device, comprising: anantenna; a radio coupled to the antenna; and a processing elementoperably coupled to the radio, wherein the device is configured toimplement any or all parts of the preceding examples.

A yet further exemplary embodiment may include a non-transitory computeraccessible memory medium comprising program instructions which, whenexecuted at a device, cause the device to implement any or all parts ofany of the preceding examples.

A still further exemplary embodiment may include a computer programcomprising instructions for performing any or all parts of any of thepreceding examples.

Yet another exemplary embodiment may include an apparatus comprisingmeans for performing any or all of the elements of any of the precedingexamples.

Still another exemplary embodiment may include an apparatus comprising aprocessing element configured to cause a wireless device to perform anyor all of the elements of any of the preceding examples.

It is well understood that the use of personally identifiableinformation should follow privacy policies and practices that aregenerally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or governmentalrequirements for maintaining the privacy of users. In particular,personally identifiable information data should be managed and handledso as to minimize risks of unintentional or unauthorized access or use,and the nature of authorized use should be clearly indicated to users.

Embodiments of the present invention may be realized in any of variousforms. For example, in some embodiments, the present invention may berealized as a computer-implemented method, a computer-readable memorymedium, or a computer system. In other embodiments, the presentinvention may be realized using one or more custom-designed hardwaredevices such as ASICs. In other embodiments, the present invention maybe realized using one or more programmable hardware elements such asFPGAs.

In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium(e.g., a non-transitory memory element) may be configured so that itstores program instructions and/or data, where the program instructions,if executed by a computer system, cause the computer system to perform amethod, e.g., any of a method embodiments described herein, or, anycombination of the method embodiments described herein, or, any subsetof any of the method embodiments described herein, or, any combinationof such subsets.

In some embodiments, a device (e.g., a UE) may be configured to includea processor (or a set of processors) and a memory medium (or memoryelement), where the memory medium stores program instructions, where theprocessor is configured to read and execute the program instructionsfrom the memory medium, where the program instructions are executable toimplement any of the various method embodiments described herein (or,any combination of the method embodiments described herein, or, anysubset of any of the method embodiments described herein, or, anycombination of such subsets). The device may be realized in any ofvarious forms.

Although the embodiments above have been described in considerabledetail, numerous variations and modifications will become apparent tothose skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated.It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace allsuch variations and modifications.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A cellular base station, comprising: anantenna; a radio coupled to the antenna; and a processor coupled to theradio; wherein the cellular base station is configured to: establish aradio resource control (RRC) connection with a wireless device accordingto a first radio access technology (RAT); provide a first downlinkcontrol information (DCI) message scheduling a first physical downlinkshared channel (PDSCH) transmission to the wireless device, wherein atime gap between providing the first DCI and the first PDSCHtransmission is given by a parameter K0, wherein K0 is indicated in thefirst DCI and a set of possible K0 values includes K0=0; configure thewireless device with a K0 minimum value (K0_min) to be greater than zeroto enable power savings at the wireless device; and provide, after theconfiguration with K0_min, a second DCI message for scheduling a secondPDSCH transmission to the wireless device, wherein the set of possibleK0 values for the scheduling does not include K0=0.
 2. The cellular basestation of claim 1, wherein the cellular base station is furtherconfigured to: maintain a discontinuous reception (DRX) inactivity timerfor the RRC connection with the wireless device, wherein the time gap isselected based on a value of the DRX inactivity timer.
 3. The cellularbase station of claim 2, wherein the cellular base station is furtherconfigured to: select a minimum time gap of at least one slot betweenproviding a third DCI message scheduling a third PDSCH transmission tothe wireless device and performing the third PDSCH transmission when thevalue of the DRX inactivity timer is greater than a predeterminedthreshold.
 4. The cellular base station of claim 3, wherein the cellularbase station is further configured to: provide an indication to thewireless device that the cellular base station will select the minimumtime gap of at least one slot between providing the third DCI messagescheduling the third PDSCH transmission and performing the third PDSCHtransmission when the value of the DRX inactivity timer is greater thanthe predetermined threshold.
 5. The cellular base station of claim 2,wherein the cellular base station is further configured to: determinethat the DRX inactivity timer for the RRC connection with the wirelessdevice has expired; transition to a connected-mode DRX (C-DRX) operationwith the wireless device; and provide a third DCI message scheduling athird PDSCH transmission to the wireless device during a C-DRX onduration, wherein a third time gap between providing the third DCImessage scheduling the third PDSCH transmission and performing the thirdPDSCH transmission is selected based at least in part on the third DCImessage being provided during the C-DRX on duration.
 6. The cellularbase station of claim 5, wherein the cellular base station is furtherconfigured to: select a minimum time gap of at least one slot betweenproviding the third DCI message scheduling the third PDSCH transmissionand performing the third PDSCH transmission based at least in part onthe third DCI message being provided during the C-DRX on duration. 7.The cellular base station of claim 1, wherein the configuration withK0_min is based on a traffic arrival rate for the wireless device.
 8. Awireless device, comprising: an antenna; a radio coupled to the antenna;and a processor coupled to the radio and configured to cause thewireless device to: establish a radio resource control (RRC) connectionwith a cellular base station according to a first radio accesstechnology (RAT); receive, from the cellular base station, a firstdownlink control information (DCI) message scheduling a first physicaldownlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission to the wireless device,wherein a time gap between receiving the first DCI and the first PDSCHtransmission is given by a parameter K0, wherein K0 is indicated in thefirst DCI and a set of possible K0 values includes K0=0; receive, fromthe cellular base station, configuration of a K0_minimum value (K0_min)to be greater than zero; and receive, after the configuration withK0_min, a second DCI message for scheduling a second PDSCH transmissionto the wireless device, wherein the set of possible K0 values for thescheduling does not include K0=0.
 9. The wireless device of claim 8,wherein the processor is further configured to cause the wireless deviceto: maintain a discontinuous reception (DRX) inactivity timer for theRRC connection, wherein the time gap is based on a value of the DRXinactivity timer.
 10. The wireless device of claim 9, wherein theprocessor is further configured to cause the wireless device to:receive, from the cellular base station, an indication that the cellularbase station will select a minimum time gap of at least one slot betweenproviding a third DCI message scheduling a third PDSCH transmission andperforming the third PDSCH transmission when the value of the DRXinactivity timer is greater than a predetermined threshold.
 11. Thewireless device of claim 9, wherein the processor is further configuredto cause the wireless device to: determine that the DRX inactivity timerfor the RRC connection has expired; transition to a connected-mode DRX(C-DRX) operation; and receive a third DCI message scheduling a thirdPDSCH transmission to the wireless device during a C-DRX on duration,wherein a third time gap between providing the third DCI messagescheduling the third PDSCH transmission and performing the third PDSCHtransmission is based at least in part on the third DCI message beingprovided during the C-DRX on duration.
 12. The wireless device of claim11, wherein the third time gap is a minimum time gap of at least oneslot.
 13. The wireless device of claim 8, wherein the processor isfurther configured to cause the wireless device to: operate in anarrower bandwidth after the configuration with K0_min than a bandwidthused prior to the configuration with K0_min.
 14. An apparatus,comprising: a processor configured to cause a wireless device to:establish a radio resource control (RRC) connection with a cellular basestation according to a first radio access technology (RAT); receive,from the cellular base station, a first downlink control information(DCI) message scheduling a first physical downlink shared channel(PDSCH) transmission to the wireless device, wherein a time gap betweenreceiving the first DCI and the first PDSCH transmission is given by aparameter K0, wherein K0 is indicated in the first DCI and a set ofpossible K0 values includes K0=0; receive, from the cellular basestation, configuration of a K0_minimum value (K0_min) to be greater thanzero; and receive, after the configuration with K0_min, a second DCImessage for scheduling a second PDSCH transmission to the wirelessdevice, wherein the set of possible K0 values for the scheduling doesnot include K0=0.
 15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the processoris further configured to cause the wireless device to: maintain adiscontinuous reception (DRX) inactivity timer for the RRC connection,wherein the time gap is based on a value of the DRX inactivity timer.16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to cause the wireless device to: receive, from the cellularbase station, an indication that the cellular base station will select aminimum time gap of at least one slot between providing a third DCImessage scheduling a third PDSCH transmission and performing the thirdPDSCH transmission when the value of the DRX inactivity timer is greaterthan a predetermined threshold.
 17. The apparatus of claim 15, whereinthe processor is further configured to cause the wireless device to:determine that the DRX inactivity timer for the RRC connection hasexpired; transition to a connected-mode DRX (C-DRX) operation; andreceive a third DCI message scheduling a third PDSCH transmission to thewireless device during a C-DRX on duration, wherein a third time gapbetween providing the third DCI message scheduling the third PDSCHtransmission and performing the third PDSCH transmission is based atleast in part on the third DCI message being provided during the C-DRXon duration.
 18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the third time gapis a minimum time gap of at least one slot.
 19. The apparatus of claim14, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the wirelessdevice to: operate in a narrower bandwidth after the configuration withK0_min than a bandwidth used prior to the configuration with K0_min. 20.The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the processor is further configuredto cause the wireless device to: implement dynamic bandwidth adaptationin response to the configuration with K0_min.